The urgency of reducing single-use plastic in global supply chains has been highlighted by a University of Queensland study in collaboration with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences.
UQ Business School researcher Dr Anna Phelan said the social and economic costs of plastic waste were often borne by coastal communities with limited waste management rather than by producers and manufacturers.
“The crisis facing the world’s oceans from plastics is well documented, yet there is little knowledge of the perspectives and experiences of communities facing overwhelming quantities of plastic waste, most of it originating in other regions,” Dr Phelan said.
She said the study used a systems-based approach to demonstrate that plastic waste was outpacing mitigation efforts.
The research is published in PLoS ONE.
